We'll Be Heroes Or Ghosts
by CoffeeEyes
Summary: How will the zombie apocalypse effect Rachel and Quinn's relationship? This fic is a filler/companion one shot for my Sleeping Sickness series. It can also serve as a prelude to the Sleeping Sickness sequel, which SHOULD be up in the near future. there will be a TINY bit of Cooplaine in this as well


**This fic is a filler/companion one shot for my Sleeping Sickness series. It can also serve as a prelude to the Sleeping Sickness sequel, which SHOULD be up in the near future. It was basically just an excuse to write some more zombies, and some Zombie!Faberry. And I figured it would be cool to throw them into the Sleeping Sickness universe. **  
**Enjoy, and keep an eye out for the Sleeping Sickness sequel soon.  
**(It may or may not be titled "Outbound".)

* * *

"_In this dark night we stand or fall__  
__We are kings now, or nothing at all__  
__Check your armor; Light up your torch__  
__Touch the flame to the sail before you head for shore_

_And we will burn the fleet__  
__We can never go home__  
__It's on to victory or underground__  
__Burn the fleet, we'll be heroes or ghosts__  
__But we won't be turned around"_

_-"Burn The Fleet" – Thrice_

* * *

Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray happen to be on a road trip when the world goes to hell.

It's a few weeks into the summer - the girls have just graduated - when they decide to go on a spontaneous trip to the west coast. It starts with a conversation one night after a date (dinner and a movie) about places that the two want to visit, when they realize that neither of them have been to California, and suddenly, they both really want to go.

She doesn't show it as much as Rachel, but Quinn is incredibly excited for the trip, because it means she gets to spend more time with her girlfriend before she goes away to school in New York in the fall. Though both girls tried to go to college together, or at least in the same state, they got accepted to different places, which lead to them agreeing to spend as much time as humanly possible together over the summer.

So that's how they find themselves - on a late June afternoon - pulling into some tiny motel, nestled in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Though Rachel argues that they can afford to stay somewhere nicer - _Quinn, I can just have my dads wire us some money_ - her girlfriend insists that they don't need a nicer hotel because they should be saving their money for California.

What Quinn doesn't know, however, is that her decision will ultimately save their lives.

As they're settling down for bed that evening, the sound of sirens screaming past the room's window startles both girls. They brush it off, just as anyone else would, but find it odd when they hear not one, but three or four more cop cars and ambulances speed by. "There must have been some terrible accident…" Rachel guesses, pulling the blinds back to glance outside. They're in some small mountain town - she can't even remember the name - but the highway isn't far away and she's sure with the winding roads that there's bound to be a bad accident or two every once in a while.

The next morning, the girls are awoken early to the sound of Rachel's phone ringing loudly from the bedside table next to them. The brunette sleepily finds her phone and silences it before sleepily answering. "Hello?"

"Rachel, honey," Leroy's voice is hushed on the other line, "Are you and Quinn alright?"

Rachel sits up, the tone of her dad's voice worrying her slightly. She rubs her eyes, trying to wake up as the sleeping blonde next to her rolls over and groans, pulling the blanket over her head. "Yeah, of course," She answers finally, "Why? Is everything okay?"

"Have you watched the news?" He asks instead, avoiding her question.

"No…" She replies warily, "We fell asleep early last night. What's going on?"

It's quiet on the other end, as if he's trying to find the right words before Leroy finally replies, "We're not quite sure. There's just some kind of… outbreak. We just wanted to make sure that you girls were safe."

"_Outbreak_?" Rachel questions, "What do you mean_ outbreak_?"

"It's complicated," He replies, voice thick, "Just… watch the news. I don't know if it's bad in Colorado, but we just want you to be safe. Call us in a little bit, okay?"

"Uh… yeah, okay," Rachel breathes, trying to come up with any reason as to why her dad would be so worried, "I love you."

"We love you too, honey," He returns, and then before she can say anything else, he's hanging up.

* * *

After only a few days of being held up in their hotel room – by Quinn's request after watching the horror that is the news – they lose all contact with the outside world. By the beginning of the third day, Rachel can't get ahold of her dads anymore, and after she calls them for the fifteenth time in two hours, Quinn holds her as she cries. She wants to cry too, because even though she isn't on the best of terms with her parents, she hasn't heard from them at all since the beginning of everything. Secretly, she's tried calling them every night once Rachel falls asleep, but there's never any answer. She wants to cry too, because Rachel's dads were the last connection they had with home – they'd lost contact with all of their friends after the first day – and now they're gone.

It's late in the third day that the hotel room loses power. It's in that moment – and when Quinn saw on the news the day before that the infection is spread by bites and more and more people are becoming infected – that they're both glad that they opted out of the big hotel for something smaller and easier to escape from. They agree that night, as Quinn holds Rachel in bed, that they'll leave in the morning. They're not even sure where they're going to go, but they know that they can't stay in the hotel. They've run out of food and are both already extremely hungry. They agree that night that if the town is as deserted as they think it's going to be, they'll go steal some food from a nearby grocery store or gas station if they have to.

On the morning of the fourth day, Rachel and Quinn are awake early and have all of their things packed up by eight. As they're about to leave the room, weaponless besides a baseball bat in the car that Quinn had insisted on taking with when they left Ohio, she turns to Rachel, to make sure her girlfriend is okay. The brunette is standing behind her, taking in a few nervous deep breaths, clutching a duffel bag in one hand and her phone in another. Though they discovered when they awoke that their phones no longer had service, Rachel insisted on bringing hers, _just in case_.

"You ready?" Quinn asks, breaking the hour long silence that had fallen between them.

Rachel nods quickly before shoving her phone in her pocket and reaching out to grab Quinn's hand for reassurance. The act tugs at the blonde's heart, and she straightens her posture, trying to be tough for her girlfriend. "I love you," Rachel breaths, squeezing her hand.

"I love you too, Rach," She replies without a second thought, "Let's do this."

Thankfully, the parking lot of the motel is deserted and it's simple for the girls to find their way to Rachel's car. Quinn climbs in the driver's seat after they throw their things in the back and peels out of the parking lot, Rachel sitting shotgun and still gripping her hand tightly. Town is almost as deserted – they come across a couple of walking corpses, but nothing they can't outrun – and they get in and out of the grocery store quickly. After they leave with bags filled to the top with as much food as they can carry, Rachel grabs their map out of the glove compartment and directs Quinn to a frontage road away from the highway – away from the deserted cars and the monsters that might inhabit them.

* * *

It's their third day on the road, driving from town to town to gather supplies and find a place to stay, that the girls finally come in contact with their first small _herd_. They're leaving a gun store in some small mountain town, conveniently, though neither girl knows how to shoot. Rachel is carrying a duffel bag full of the leftover weapons and ammo that hadn't been stolen yet and Quinn is ahead of her with the baseball bat and they are making their way down a side street when they see them. Down the alley, just a few yards away from the car are a good half a dozen or more _zombies_ milling around among themselves, as if they had been heading mindlessly through town and got distracted. Rachel draws in a sharp gasp from behind Quinn at the sight, catching the attention of one of them. The corpse closest to them, which looks like the remains of an older man, turns his head, his dead eyes staring at the girls before he starts hobbling toward them. His movement in turn, gains the attention of the other corpses, and soon almost all of them are shuffling down the alley and toward the girls.

"Quinn…" Rachel whispers, worried because her girlfriend is just standing there in front of her, frozen. They've seen this many before, but definitely not this close, and it's terrifying. "Quinn," Rachel breaths again, "What do we do?"

"Let's go out the other way," Quinn whispers, her gaze unmoving from the herd in front of them, "We can draw them away and then make a run for the car." At that, she turns to face Rachel, and almost screams when she sees another three or four zombies behind her girlfriend, silently closing the gap between them. "Move!" Quinn screams, lifting her bat just as Rachel ducks and delivering a blow to the closest corpse's head. She knows that the yell more than likely attracted more of them, and knows that they need to get out. _Now._

When Rachel sees the zombies moving toward the both of them, she swings the bag of weapons over her shoulder and grips her crowbar (the weapon she'd grown most accustomed to) and begins swinging at heads with her girlfriend. A week ago, there was no way she would have imagined herself where she is now, and though it still is surreal and her heart is pounding, she swings with precision at the monsters coming toward them.

They're almost out of the alley a minute later, Quinn leading the way, when she hears Rachel scream from behind her. With a heavy heart, she whips her head around to find her girlfriend, toppling to the ground with a bloody woman grabbing at her, the crowbar and duffel bag flying from her arms. In a second, Quinn is sprinting, jumping over the limp bodies she had left in her wake, to save Rachel.

What she doesn't expect, though, is one of those bodies to still be alive - or undead. As she's jumping over the last one, bat raised, she feels something grip her ankle and then she's suddenly hitting the pavement face first.

Everything is black, but she can hear her girlfriend, "_Quinn! Please, please wake up, Quinn I need you_!" in the background and she wills her eyes to open – wills her body to move.

When Quinn comes to, she realizes that she's on the ground, looking sideways at her girlfriend who is desperately trying to fight off the zombie on top of her. In the background, she can see three more approaching; snarling at what just might be their next meal. Quinn tries to move, tries to crawl away, but there's still a hand gripping her ankle. She kicks a couple of times, freeing herself, and reaches for her bat, which she _thought_ was right next to her. Surprised, she turns to find that it isn't, and glances around frantically, searching for her weapon.

"Quinn!" Rachel screams again, causing her to glance up again to find Rachel kicking one zombie away only for another to grab at her.

_No. This can't be it. She can't die. Not like this_.

Quinn quickly glances around, looking for something, _anything _to use as a weapon, when she sees it. There's a handgun, within arm's reach from her. It must have fallen out of the bag when Rachel fell. She reaches forward with a shaky hand, and without checking to see if it's loaded – because she honestly doesn't even know how to – she cocks it, and aims toward the monster hovering over her girlfriend. She's surprised with the kick that the gun has when she squeezes the trigger, but is even more surprised when the monster that had been attacking her girlfriend slumps over, lifeless, with a bullet hole right between her eyes.

Rachel takes that moment to stand quickly and grab her crowbar, which had been just out of reach, and swing at a nearby zombie. Quinn lays on the ground still, staring numbly as Rachel kills off a few more with new found rage, and it isn't until the other girl reaches her hand out to her that she snaps herself out of it and stands, gun still in hand. "We need to get out of here," Rachel says, hushed as she pulls Quinn along, duffel bag flung over her shoulder and the crowbar in one hand, "_Now_."

The girls sprint out of the alley together, only stopping to grab Quinn's bat, and make it safely to the car before peeling away and leaving the town in their rear view mirror.

* * *

After over a week of searching and searching for somewhere safe and out of harm's way to stay – maybe to call home – the girls find it.

They find the city, first, just off the highway. Carbondale looks like something from a postcard. In fact, when they first stumble upon it, they actually have to pull over to admire the view for a moment. The city is situated in a green valley, and the backdrop is a beautiful mountain, still somewhat snowcapped despite the heat. It would be a paradise, if it weren't for the eerie silence that blankets the usually busy streets before them.

They take a risk in entering the city, but both Rachel and Quinn decide that if they're going to live _anywhere_, even if it's just for a little while, this should be it. They stay away from the main roads and for the most part, avoiding most of the zombies that they're sure now inhabit the city. After about forty-five minutes of driving and right before the sun goes down, they find it. They don't even have to ask when they see the house, situated on top of the hill, looking down on the rest of Carbondale, and quickly find the driveway and make their way up to the building. _It's the one._

After making sure the house is safe and secure, and just as the sun disappears behind the mountains, the girls find themselves in the master bedroom upstairs, laying in the bed together and relaxing for the first time since things went to shit.

Rachel lets out a deep breath before turning to snuggle up to Quinn, wrapping her arm around her waist. "It's perfect."

"You think?" Quinn asks, unable to fight back her smile. The truth is, she really does hope that they can settle down here, at least for a little while until things blow over. It's absolutely gorgeous. There's a balcony just outside of the kitchen downstairs, overlooking the property, and if the world were still normal, Quinn could imagine waking up in the morning to the smell of Rachel making coffee downstairs. She'd walk into the kitchen to find her beautiful girlfriend, and join her (and probably their dogs) on the balcony to watch the sunrise and plan their day. She knows that they're in someone else's house and that the world is definitely _not_ normal, but she can't help but think she's never felt more at home here, in Rachel's arms.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asks softly, shaking Quinn out of her thoughts and looking up at her, smiling.

"Nothing," Quinn says softly, "Just that this could be it… Maybe we could get a new start here."

"It _would_ be nice, wouldn't it?" Rachel muses, turning to look up at the ceiling.

Quinn softly hums in response, and for the first time since that fateful day in the hotel room, they fall asleep with smiles on their faces and nothing but love in their hearts.

* * *

After taking the time to get settled in and scope out the city, the girls begin shooting and target practice. They find an open field about twenty minutes away from the house and decide to use it as a place to learn their weapons. Quinn is a natural, as the girls both quickly learn, and by the end of the first week, she's hitting every target perfectly on the first shot. Though Rachel isn't as good at first, by the end of the week, she's doing better than she ever thought she would. Quinn eventually abandons her baseball bat in favor for her gun when they go out of town together, insisting that it's quicker and easier.

The girls try to stay within the city of Carbondale, though, and even set up a sign outside of the grocery store in town with directions to their home, in case any other weary travelers need safety or a place to stay. They check town every few days, and collect food only when they need to, making sure to leave at least a little for anyone else who might need help.

After another week of staying at their new found home, though, they haven't found anyone else, and Quinn can't say that she's complaining. She and Rachel make a pretty good team together, and she secretly worries that if they _were_ to find anyone else, that they could complicate things or ruin their now familiar routine. She knows that there's safety in numbers, but she also knows that as long as they have a safe place to stay, they can be okay on their own as well. After all, they've already saved eachother – they don't really need anyone else's help.

What Quinn doesn't take into account, though, is that maybe someone out there might need _their_ help.

* * *

Another week passes by, and though neither of them wants to say it out loud, that Saturday marks exactly one month since everything began. Since the world went to hell. Instead of mentioning it, though, Rachel just wraps her arms around Quinn's waist while she's getting dressed that morning and murmurs _I love you, Q,_ in her ear.

Quinn turns around after a moment and cups Rachel's face in her hand before bringing their lips together in a soft kiss. They stand like that, half naked and wrapped up in one another for what seems like forever, until Quinn pulls away, smiling against her girlfriend's lips and whispers, "I love you too, Rachel."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Rachel returns softly, her breath ghosting against Quinn's lips.

"I'd be lost without _you_," Quinn shoots back, and after another quick kiss, the conversation is over and they finish getting dressed before heading downstairs.

"I was thinking maybe we should head somewhere new for target practice today," Rachel says over breakfast that morning. They're eating oatmeal and drinking water, as usual, and Quinn has to hold back a snarky comment about how they're like an old married couple.

"Where at?" Quinn asks, pushing her food around because _god_ she's getting sick of oatmeal. She mentally reminds herself to find some old stale cereal or something next time they're at the store.

"Well," Rachel starts, grabbing the map that had been sitting in the center of the table. They found a better one of the area while gathering supplies at a gas station about a week ago and found that it was easier to use than their old one. "It looks like there's a small town called _Redstone_ not too far from here… Maybe we can head around there. It looks pretty secluded and it's a tiny town, so I'm sure it's not overrun. We won't attract any unwanted attention – especially toward our house."

Quinn's heart leaps when Rachel calls it _our_ house and she has to calm herself before swallowing her food and smiling, "That sounds great, babe."

It's about three that afternoon when the girls head off toward Redstone and after passing the seemingly deserted town, they head off on some dirt road to find a secluded place to go shooting. They're gone almost until sunset, despite Rachel telling Quinn that they need to head back. Quinn argues that they've found a good place – that there's no roamers nearby – and they should take advantage of it, so when they leave the meadow that they find, the sun is just about to disappear behind the Rockies.

"You think we'll be okay to drive home in the dark?" Rachel asks, slightly worried. They quickly learned after their first week that the monsters seem to be more active at night.

"We'll be fine," Quinn insists, "That town was definitely deserted, and we can take back roads home."

Rachel nods in agreement, though she's still visibly nervous, "Alright."

About twenty minutes into their drive when they still haven't found their way off of the dirt road, though, it's apparent that Quinn doesn't know where she is going. "Maybe we _should_ have left before the sun went down…" She admits, becoming slightly anxious. She's about to say something else to make Rachel feel better, but is cut off when she opens her mouth by what sounds like a gunshot. And then another. "What the fuck?" He voice comes out as a whisper and the car slows a little as she listens for more noises.

"That sounded close," Rachel whispers back, turning to look at Quinn before sticking her head out the window slightly, as if it could help her hear it better.

"It did," She agrees, "Do you think…"

"Someone might be in trouble," Rachel finishes for her, "Should we see if we can find where it came from?"

A million scenarios run through Quinn's head at Rachel's words, and she actually has to pull the car over for a moment to clear her head and decide what to do. On one hand, she _does_ want to go investigate, because there could be someone out there that needs their help. On the other hand, though, she's not sure if she's ready to be a hero. Not now. _What if they're outnumbered_? Or even worse, what if the _person_ is dangerous? Quinn is okay with zombies – she can do zombies. They're simple: you kill them, or they kill you. _People_ on the other hand… She's so used to being with Rachel and _just_ Rachel, that she's not even sure how to deal with another human.

Rachel seems to sense her nerves and she reaches over the center console to caress her arm, "It's okay, babe. We don't have to. Let's just go home."

Quinn nods slowly in response, and begins to drive away again. "We'll come back first thing tomorrow morning," She says, mostly to herself, "We'll see if we can find them."

"Okay," Rachel agrees, thumb still rubbing soft circles into Quinn's wrist, "Let's just find our way out of here first."

Thankfully, after another twenty minutes of driving with shaky hands and not hearing any more gunshots, Quinn finds a familiar spot in the road and knows that they're finally heading in the right direction. She turns her attention from the road for a moment to smile reassuringly at her girlfriend, and when she does, Rachel gasps. The sudden sound and the look on Rachel's face makes Quinn think that they're about to crash or hit something, and she automatically slams on the breaks, turning forward once again. What she doesn't expect, though, is to be met with another pair of headlights.

The car on the other side of the road is pulled over somewhat carelessly, both the passenger and driver's doors thrown open. Quinn's eyes automatically search for human life, or a walking lifeless body, and then she sees _them_. From the light of her headlights, she can see two bodies up on the hillside. One appears to be lying down, and the other is crouching over the first and Quinn's first instinct is to grab her gun, assuming that it's a zombie.

Rachel's hand stops her, though, when the crouching form stands up and turns, shielding their eyes from the headlights and staring at the car. "Quinn…" Rachel breaths, gripping her arm, "They – They're _alive_." The car slows to a stop and Quinn stares numbly at the person standing on the hill, wondering what to do. "I think one of them is hurt," Rachel says, breaking the silence again and starts to get out of the car, "We have to help them."

Quinn opens her door as well, and as she does, the man on the hill seems to realize that they're not going to hurt him, because then he is hurrying toward them, hands raised as if to say _I'm no threat, I promise._ As he nears, Quinn can get a better look at him. His shaggy hair is somewhat disheveled and he has a bit of scruff on his face from not shaving for a few days. His piercing blue eyes are swollen and red from what looks like tears and as her eyes travel downward, she realizes that he's covered in blood. A lot of blood. The red glistens on his hands and arms in the headlights and it stains the rolled up sleeves of his hoodie and his jeans.

Quinn instinctively raises her weapon at him and he takes a step back. "You're not bit, are you?" She asks, speaking for the first time, her voice hard.

"N-no," He stutters, still holding his hands up, "Please, I need your help."

"What is it?" Rachel speaks up, her soft voice contrasting against Quinn's, and the blonde can't help but think that they _do_ make a pretty great team.

"My brother," He _whimpers_, "He – he…"

"Has _he_ been bit?" Quinn asks, assuming the blood is from the man's brother.

"No," The man replies, shaking his head and gulping, "_Shot_. Please. You have to help us. I'm _begging _you. I… I can't lose him… _Please_."

Quinn glances at Rachel, who looks like _she's_ almost about to cry at the sight of the man before them, and that does it. "Alright."

"_Thank you_," He breaths, voice cracking, before running back up the hill, tripping over himself as he does so. Rachel and Quinn follow close behind, just close enough to hear him mutter _hang on Blaine, please_, before he picks the limp boy up from the ground.


End file.
